SEATTLE -- When Seattle Seahawks general manager John Schnieder acquired All-Pro left guard Quenton Nelson in a trade last week, he knew the full effects of the move wouldn't be felt right away. Nelson was being thrown into an unfamiliar system in the middle of the season, and his arrival would force Grey Zabel to move to right guard.
"The maneuvering and all that," Schneider told Seattle Sports 710-AM before kickoff against the Chicago Bears, "it's going to take a minute for all those guys to get comfortable."
Schneider's pregame analysis proved painfully true as the Seahawks' offense struggled in a 34-17 loss to the Bears -- Seattle's most lopsided defeat since December of 2024. The loss dropped the defending Super Bowl champions to 4-4, which puts them 2.5 games behind the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC West standings.
Most concerning was quarterback Sam Darnold again struggling under pressure. He was pressured on 14 of his 39 dropbacks and he completed just one of 11 attempts for 13 yards and an interception while under duress, according to ESPN Research. A week after he did not take a sack in Seattle's 20-3 win over the previously-unbeaten Kansas City Chiefs, Chicago dropped Darnold three times while registering six official QB hits.
It was a perfect storm of factors that led to a messy offensive effort. Their reconfigured offensive line also had backup Josh Jones at left tackle facing a Bears front that just added All-Pro defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons via trade and got edge rusher Montez Sweat back from a two-game suspension. Zach Charbonnet made his season debut, while fellow Seahawks running back Jadarian Price returned from injured reserve, but they combined for only 52 rushing yards on 16 attempts (3.25 yards per carry).
"I think there [is] a little bit of a learning curve with the new group, the new alignments," coach Mike Macdonald said Tuesday on his Seattle Sports 710-AM radio show. "There are a couple coaching points that are going to happen. [The mistakes] should be fewer and far between from week to week."
Macdonald called sacks a team stat and cautioned against the assumption that whenever a quarterback gets hit, the offensive line must be to blame. Charbonnet, for instance, got beat by a blitzing linebacker on the Bears' third sack. But the first one came via a quick and decisive win by Simmons over Zabel, a second-year player who made his first start at right guard since his freshman season in college.
"It's a tough transition to flip sides in the middle of the week, but at the end, no excuses," Zabel said. "Could've played better. I will play better. We move forward from here."
Also to blame was Darnold holding the ball longer on Monday night. Against Kansas City, his average time before throw was 2.45 seconds, easily his lowest since returning in Week 3 from his glute injury. Against Chicago, it was 2.89 seconds -- though at times, that was a function of having nowhere to throw the ball.
"When I get the ball out quick, it's all about knowing where to go with the football," he said. "Just being decisive, knowing when I need to move on in progression and doing that. Talking about this game specifically, got to watch the tape, obviously. I feel like there were opportunities to get the ball out, and I just didn't."
Darnold now has nine interceptions this season, which is tied for second most in the NFL despite him playing just six full games. His pick in the fourth quarter Monday night involved some misfortune, as his scramble throw to an open receiver was tipped by defensive end Austin Booker and directly to James Lynch right after it left Darnold's hand.
The play exemplified how his interception problem is partly a pressure problem. He's been under duress on 38.3% of his dropbacks this season, the sixth-highest rate in the NFL. When pressured, he's completing only 31.3% of his passes (29th), with two touchdowns to five interceptions (26th) and a Raw QBR of 3.9 (27th).
Last season, Darnold's pressure rate was 30.4% (21st highest). When under duress, he completed 50% of his passes (tied for sixth-best) with seven touchdowns to seven interceptions (21st) and a Raw QBR of 16.4 (20th).
"Sam's a warrior, man," Macdonald said on his radio show. "Do we want Sam to play better? Yeah. Do we need Sam to play more efficient football? Yes. But he also freaking battled his tail off after getting hit. I hope everybody understands what type of courage that takes and toughness that this guy has to be able to play through the things that he was able to play through. So there's urgency to get better for sure, but I think we can respect what Sam's doing physically as well."
Macdonald said left tackle Charles Cross, who went down with an ankle injury in Week 7, has a chance to return this week to start against the Arizona Cardinals. Cross did not practice last week, meaning he's yet to log a rep with Nelson next to him at left guard.
"It's great to have Quenton," Macdonald said. "We're psyched. You can definitely see there's a lot of really great plays where he's moving people and cutting people out and doing Quenton Nelson things, which is really great.
"It's just, we've got to make it all come together."